


Wishes of Stardust and Dreams

by Winterkissed_Jasmine



Category: Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor
Genre: Other, hahaha couldn't get this ship out of my head, im on the trashship to trash can
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-28 08:32:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7632673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winterkissed_Jasmine/pseuds/Winterkissed_Jasmine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She could feel it, like a cat brushing across her senses, and each time she reached, it ran away, elusive as a true cat. But she had to know. </p><p>...</p><p>AU where Brimstone managed to somehow keep his soul tied to Karou's, and she brings him back to love. Trash-ship of Brimstone x Karou.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wishes of Stardust and Dreams

Karou could feel it. It was elusive, skittish, but it was  _there._ It brushed against her senses, her soul like a cat rubbing against her leg. Every time she reached out for it, physically and spiritually, it darted out of her grasp, leaving her gasping and...  _empty._ Issa and Zuzana worried about her, Karou could tell, by their furtive glances toward her whenever she became frustrated, snarling.  It drove her mad, having this  _thing_ that was  _there_ but she was unable to do anything about it.

_I'm truly becoming insane._

Karou dropped her head to her palms, pressing the tips of her fingers against her temples. A strung necklace sprawled in front of her, the beginnings of a soldier- No, not a soldier. They didn't need soldiers, not anymore. After the war, after the peace agreement between all three races (though Stelians and Seraphs were technically the same race, the Council had counted them as another Kingdom). She was part of the Council - a group of equal parts Stelian, Seraph, and Chimaera - but lately she had been sending Issa and Zuzana in her place. Every moment that she spent away from resurrections made her feel guilty, as if she were purposely not resurrecting family and loved ones.

She rubbed her thumb against the thurible in her lap, allowing some of the spirit to leak out. It was a soldier from before, before the war with the Misbegotten (She really shouldn't use that word, but has become second nature). He was made of smoke and fire, practically vibrating with energy. His soul was young, and it sent a sharp pain to Karou's heart. He would wake up, and find angels and Chimaera sharing meals, beds. It was the hardest part of these resurrections, convincing the old souls that everything  _was_ perfect, and that they had nothing to fear. Though it didn't always work. Just a few days ago, a Chimaera threw herself at an angel, snarling, roaring at how the Seraph had killed her sister. The surrounding Chimaera pulled her away and Ziri suggested that they keep her separate. Introduce her slowly to their new communities. 

  _God. Ziri._ No one was sure what to call him. Certainly not Warlord, as it suggested that they were still ready for war. Liraz had becoming Commander of the Seraph army, and Karou supposed that Ziri had done the same for the Chimaera as well. After the "White Wolf" had perished at war, his soul lost, Ziri had taken over, and the Chimaera found themselves compelled to follow, and so the Kirin male had somehow found him once again in command. And only a few others knew that everyone else listened because Ziri  _was_ the White Wolf. And, even though that horrid, savage body was left behind, Ziri took with him the abilities of being a Commander.

The door to her work-area crashed about, and Zu and Mik came barging in, holding several bags, which they set down gently on the floor. Issa soon followed, her cobra hood fanning as she smiled gently at Karou. 

"Beautiful child, how are you?" Issa asked, running her hand though Karou's hair as she slithered past. In reply, Karou pressed head against the hand, almost purring.

"Did you miss us?" Zu demanded, crossing her arms defensively. They had been gone for a week, and Karou rose from her table, glancing down at the bags on the ground. 

"Depends on what's in the bags." Karou answered, and with dancer's grace, kneeled to the ground. Her fingers tugged open the bag, and out came teeth. A surprising gift, for some, but to those in her area, teeth were prized. She picked up a small tooth, rubbing it between her fingers. A child's tooth. At first, the idea of these small teeth made her want to gag, but Karou was surprisingly used to it now, after all the children resurrection she was doing. "These are good, Zu." She tilted her head up, her dark eyes taking in Mik and Zu. "Where did you get them?"

"We turned invisible and snuck into morgues. And then we went to a zoo's morgue. Did you know that zoo's have morgues?" Mik asked, so terribly simple that it made Karou ache. She rose, dragging the bags toward her table. There was a hissed argument as Karou turned away, and she heard the distinct shuffle of Mik's feet as he left the room.

"Zu, Issa, _don't._ " The words came out sharper than Karou meant, and she softened it by turning toward Issa and Zu with a desperate look. They shared a glance - something Karou hated. "I don't want to have this conversation."

"Sweet child... We need to talk about-"

"No. We don't." Karou turned away, picking up a plier meant for the pain tithe. 

"Akiva told us-" Her grip tightened on the plier, and she slammed her palm on the table, rattling the teeth and jewels.

"I don't care what he told you." She said, her voice cracking like a whip and silencing both of them. She took in a deep breath, and turned toward them. "If you don't mind, I have to get back to work." She turned away, dismissing them, and heard Zu's intake of breath. She stood there, pressing her palm against the table as if that good steady her soul.

 _Akiva._ It was starting to sound less beautiful with every saying, and becoming more like a curse. But Karou couldn't find it in herself to blame him. She would've went with the Stelians too. His Grandmother, his mother's side of the family was there. It didn't mean she was less angry that one night he just  _left._ With just a note, expressing his apologies for her. She had sent letters, so many letters, but he never answered Karou's. He did, however, that bastard, send letters to Liraz, and Zuzana and even Mik, but never her. 

And in her anger, her fury bumping through her veins, it happened.

She could feel it, that  _thing_ brushing against her mind, soft and gentle, and her body reacted. She slammed the plies into her hand, the pain arcing through her body, opening a well within herself. Akiva, - damn his name - had told her once that pain wasn't the only way to find magic, but Karou found that nothing else worked after he left. Bliss, happiness, nothing. Pain was her only tool, and it became  _comforting._ With the magic crackling under her veins, she lashed out, grabbing at that thing before it could skitter away, dragging it into her mind.

She almost sobbed when she realized what it was.

Because it smelled like smoke and incense and tea and sounded like soft murmurs and a voice deeper than shadows. It smelled like  _brimstone._


End file.
